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Washington RB Salvon Ahmed signed with the 49ers Friday, changing into San Francisco's 10th UDFA signing.
Salvon Ahmed signed a three-year undrafted free agent contract with the San Francisco 49ers on Friday, making the College of Washington working again the most recent addition to the staff’s backfield. Ahmed is the 10th undrafted free agent signing for San Francisco this offseason, and the third working again signed after Baylor’s JaMychal Hasty and Fresno State RB Josh Hokit.
The three signings have are available shortly after the Niners traded veteran RB Matt Breida to Miami for the Dolphins’ fifth-round decide within the 2020 NFL Draft, which San Francisco used to pick out offensive sort out Colton McKivitz from West Virginia.
The departure of Breida, who led the 49ers in speeding within the 2018 season with 844 yards, creates area for a brand new face to affix Raheem Mostert, Tevin Coleman and Jeff Wilson within the backfield.
With the addition of huge receiver Deebo Samuel’s speeding makes an attempt, the variety of touches out there is proscribed, however there may be potential for one in all Ahmed, Hasty or Hokit to make the ultimate roster. Let’s break down the 49ers’ new speeding trio.
Salvon Ahmed, College of Washington
There’s rather a lot to love about Ahmed. After making a mark behind standout Huskies RB Myles Gaskin as a freshman with 388 speeding yards, three touchdowns and 6.Four yards per try, the Kirkland, Washington native received his first begins as a sophomore earlier than changing into Washington’s function again in 2019.
Ahmed tallied 1,020 yards speeding yards this previous season, reached the endzone 11 instances, and nonetheless produced a powerful 5.Four yards per carry regardless of further carries and a focus, prompting him to declare for the draft.
“It was undoubtedly one thing that I’ve been eager about since I received to school,’’ Ahmed advised the Seattle Occasions. “Everybody’s dream is to go away after three years, however for me I had targets I wished to perform. I undoubtedly wished to be a 1,000-yard rusher, I wished to have 10-plus touchdowns, I wished to have explosive performs, and if I didn’t have these issues I wasn’t going to go away and I used to be lucky sufficient to mark off each single a type of targets. And I felt bodily and mentally on high of that that I used to be able to be a professional.’’
Whereas Ahmed might have felt prepared, his post-declaration course of has been rocky. After working a 4.32 40-yard sprint at Washington’s Husky Mix in 2019, Ahmed clocked in instances of 4.62 and 4.67 on the 2020 NFL Mix.
Nevertheless, it’s extremely unlikely that Ahmed’s in-game pace will replicate his mix time. The RB’s most notable trait in faculty has been quickness, and if he can enhance on his promising imaginative and prescient and elusiveness seen within the video beneath, Ahmed should have the most effective shot out of this group to make the ultimate reduce.
JaMychal Hasty, Baylor
Hasty is an fascinating distinction to Ahmed. Whereas Ahmed has a considerably higher resume out of faculty and is prone to be extra constant on the subsequent stage, Hasty has extra expertise however appears like he could possibly be extra electrical than his UDFA counterparts.
Taking part in in then-Baylor head coach Matt Rhule’s offense, Hasty introduced in 25-plus receptions in every of the previous three seasons, and persistently cut up speeding tasks in an offense that was already pass-heavy however did crack 800 whole yards from scrimmage this previous season.
Hasty’s fast cuts and safe fingers make him a worthwhile shot within the present age of NFL offense, however his potential to provide persistently within the passing sport hasn’t translated to large performs, as Hasty has solely damaged off three touches for a 50-yard achieve or higher.
The added issue of Hasty being an average-at-best pass-blocker makes his specialties barely much less precious, however Hasty nonetheless has an opportunity to make the roster if head coach Kyle Shanahan and firm suppose the five-year faculty product has extra potential within the 49ers offensive scheme than Ahmed.
Josh Hokit, Fresno State
In relation to various talent units, Hokit’s arsenal is unquestionably probably the most distinctive of this group.
Hokit initially attended Fresno because of the opportunity of the Bulldogs’ wrestling program returning, which was Hokit’s first sport popping out of highschool. Nevertheless, after walking-on to the Fresno soccer staff while ready for wrestling, the Wasco, Calif. product grew to become an vital a part of the Bulldogs’ staff in his first yr on the roster.
Within the seasons since, Hokit has grow to be a focus of each the wrestling and soccer program, which culminated in his 10 landing season in 2019, which included 9 speeding touchdowns on simply 287 whole speeding yards.
There’s no query that Hokit is a bruiser who excels at successful in small-yardage conditions, and the two-sport athlete looks as if the proper instance of a goal-line, third-down situational again which you can rely on to get a yard or two.
Whereas Breida’s strongest talent was in an analogous vein, it could possibly be argued that short-yardage can also be Coleman’s biggest power, and the previous Atlanta Falcon has additionally proven that he's able to greater than short-yardage.
If the Niners see sufficient blocking prowess and power from Hokit, there could possibly be a use for him. Nevertheless, San Francisco isn’t in dying want of a brute RB proper now, so it could possibly be robust for Hokit to discover a place on the roster, though a apply squad spot would make sense.
Evan Reier is a sportswriter protecting the San Francisco 49ers for Heavy.com and native sports activities for the Montana Commonplace in Butte, MT. Attain out to him on Twitter at @evanreier and observe Heavy on 49ers on Fb!
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